Unitarna patentna zaštita – izazovi početka primene Sporazuma o Jedinstvenom patentnom sudu

Abstract

On June 1, 2023, the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court (UPC) entered into force. The Agreement was signed ten years ago, and the work on unified patent protection began more than a half century ago. Therefore, the beginning of implementation of the Agreement is compared to the light at the end of the tunnel. It remains to be seen how long the tunnel is and what is that light. The paper seeks to shed light on the beginning of the implementation of the Agreement and its challenges. First, the reasons for delaying its entry into force are discussed. Then the structure of the UPC and the appointment of judges are presented. Thereafter, the complexity of the unitary patent protection is analyzed. Finally, the unitary nature of the protection is considered in order to examine whether the unitary patent protection contributes to reducing the fragmentation of the European patent landscape.